Vile Verses VI

“The Procession” by Harriet Prescott Spofford is not only a poem about a Halloween parade, but it also shows there was a time when trick or treating was not always guaranteed for youngsters on Halloween. Google Books has plenty of other vintage poems as well. Pauline More Wetzel penned “October,” “The Yellow Leaves” and “Their Surprise” while Clara Kendrick Blaisdell wrote her own “October” and Hilda Rose Stice wrote “My Jack-o’-Lantern.” That’s all contained in the same link, by the way. Carrie Stern’s “Hallowe’en” is an interesting read, as are the birth stone poems by an unknown author. The ones for March and October certainly got my attention. Alvin Lincoln Snow’s “The Haunted Mansion” and Joel Benton’s “Halloween” are the last of the vintage material as we move on to modern works like William Michael Mott’s “The Awakening of a Zombie,” Carole Marsh’s “A Marrow Escape,” Ann K. Schwader’s “Jaded” and F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre’s “Improbable Bestiary: The Ghoul.” The rare 80’s wrestling horror comedy Blood Circus had special “Scream Bags” issued to everyone who attended its only showing. Said bags had a poem printed on them, presumably written by the director Santo Gold.

Finally, Wikipedia brings us two poems about death. The first is Henri Cazalis’ “Danse Macabre” (which shares a connection with the famous musical composition by Camille Saint-Saens) and the other is inspired by the alleged ancient Japanese custom known as “Ubasute.”